Woods has no chance of breaking Nicklaus' record. (©GettyImages). Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 major championships will not be beaten by Tiger Woods or anyone else.
It looked at one stage during Woods' career that he wouldn't just reach 18 major championships, but that he would sail past it with ease.
Major drought
However, Woods is suffering the biggest major drought of his career, having not won one since his heroic 2008 US Open triumph whilst suffering from a knee injury earned him his 14th.
But six years and counting has passed without Woods being able to add a tally to his major championship count and Nicklaus is able to watch the big golf tournaments a lot more comfortably these days.
Woods returned from back surgery to compete in the Open Championship at Hoylake but, although he showed glimpses of his former self, he was never in contention to win his 15th major championship.
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McIlroy to break the record?
There was talk after Rory McIlroy claimed victory at Royal Liverpool that he could be the new challenger to Nicklaus' record. Three majors at the age of 25 is certainly impressive for McIlroy and, incidentally, is a feat only matched by Nicklaus and Woods.
But golf has moved on a lot since Nicklaus' heyday and there are plenty more challengers for majors than ever before.
Nicklaus managed to win seven majors in five years between 1962 and 1967, whilst Woods won seven of his majors between August 1999 and June 2002.
The rate of winning at least one major every year is something that seems inconceivable nowadays with the talent currently involved in the sport.
Too competitive
Adam Scott, Jordan Spieth and Sergio Garcia are just a few of the players that would make it incredibly difficult for the likes of McIlroy to go on and complete the sort of major championship haul that Nicklaus and Woods have claied in the past.
So I think it's safe to say now that after off-course problems and injuries, Woods isn't going to beat Nicklaus' record.
Nor, due to improving competition, is McIlroy. To win 16 more majors with some of the other golfers challenging him will prove to be almost impossible so Nicklaus can sit back and enjoy watching major championships in years to come, knowing that his record is in no danger.
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